To Your Health
December, 2025 (Vol. 19, Issue 12) |
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Vitamin D to Lower BP?
By Editorial Staff
High blood pressure increases the risk of cardiovascular events including heart attack and stroke, making management of high BP – and efforts to keep it in the healthy range in the first place – a priority. Blood pressure in the elderly can be a particular concern, not only because blood pressure tends to elevate with age, but so does the prevalence of obesity – another risk factor for high BP.
Researchers have found that vitamin D can help reduce blood pressure in overweight, elderly adults. In reaching their conclusion, they divided participants into two groups, with one group taking 600 IU/day of oral vitamin D3 and the other taking 3,750 IU/day. Most participants were sedentary and suffering from prediabetes – both of which can elevate blood pressure. Calcium (which is commonly co-administered with vitamin D in older adults) was also included in the daily regimen.
Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure decreased significantly in both groups during the one-year study period (3.5 mmHg reduction and 2.8 mmHg reduction, respectively, at one-year follow-up). According to the findings, taking the low dose vs. the higher dose did not matter: "Vitamin D and calcium decrease SBP and DBP in overweight older individuals, but more is not necessarily better. This effect is seen in individuals with BMI greater than 30, in hypertensive patients, and seems to be largely independent of dose."
Have you had your blood pressure checked recently? If not, and particularly if you have risk factors for high BP, there's no better time than now.
